Thursday Thoughts and Random House pics...

I've been thinking lately about my blog and what it is and what I want it to be. Right now it seems to be a mixing pot of my life...crafts, decorating, kids, food, thrifting, and so on. I wonder if that is really OK? I do enjoy how some blogs are really focused, like they are just a quilting, prim decor, or family blog. But then again, I also really enjoy blogs that show the whole picture. I know there is no right way to have or do a blog, because in the end, it is MY blog, right? But what do you think? Do you like seeing the whole picture that I put on here, or would you rather just see crafts and decorating? Btw, have you noticed how much I have been posting? :) I'm trying to be better!

And now for the house pics, because no matter what kind of blog I go to, I like to see pictures :) Here are some of my staircase foyer...

And remember that little wood stand from the church sale with my mom? I painted it white and it fit perfectly in the kid's bathroom.
And the .25 cent curtains work well too!
Have a beautiful day,

Tiff

Wednesday's Works...

Sunday night I decided that Mason and I needed new outfits to wear to Camden, so I made these. A romper outfit for him and a skirt for me. Sorry for the pics, my camera is getting old and is very temperamental when it comes to inside photos.

Ignore the wrinkles, I took the pics after he wore it.
And my skirt... it's ankle length with an elastic waist and double ruffle hem. I love this fabric, put it in the washer and dryer and it came out beautifully and doesn't seem to wrinkle. It's a reproduction(1840-1860 coverlet) print that I found at Marden's.
And here is my work in progress... I got this drop side crib from a little old man who didn't know what to do with it because you can't sell them anymore. So I got it for free. I took off one side and I'm in the process of spray painting it a buttercream color. It will be a sitting bench for somewhere in my yard.

The thing is soaking up the paint, I used three cans already and I need to buy more. Hopefully I can get it done tomorrow, that is if I feeling like making the trip to Walmart for more paint ;)

Have a lovely day,

Tiff

Find that BLOG!!!

I really don't think I'm going crazy, but you never know :) A few hours ago, I saw a blog post about Fall, it had a white barn like shed, surrounded by big black wood crows and an awesome wood witch silouette, and pumpkins and corn stalks. It's driving me nuts that I can't remember who's blog it was, and it now seems to have disappeared(or at least I can't find it). Does anyone else remember this? and can you point me in the right direction? Or was it you? I wanted to show my hubby the pics.

Thank you!

Tiff

Tuesday's Treasures....with a safety Tip...

I know I have been trying to limit what I bring in the house, and I have been getting better, but sometimes Goodwill just has too many things that I love! I took one(and only one) trip to GW last week... I found 4 panels of these Lover's Knot coverlet curtains!! I have these same ones in my half bath(but in black and mustard). Now I just need to figure out where they can go, or if they will be turned into something else.

And this double tier vintage sheer curtain is going to be cut in half(to make two curtains) and will be going in the master bedroom of the camper.
And then I found glassware, for my kitchen and the camper!! Most of it was half off :)
And now for the safety tip.... I'm sure you all have heard that you should where gloves when you are chopping jalapeno peppers, and let me tell you, YOU REALLY SHOULD!!! I was making zucchini relish this weekend and decided to make the second batch spicy for my hubby. I chopped up 4 jalapeno peppers without much thought and started cooking the relish. Within minutes I noticed that the tips of my thumbs were hurting but I didn't realize what from. My finger tips starting hurting a bit too, but not as much as my thumbs. I washed my hands several times, but by then they were burning! I finally figured it out that it was the peppers! I tried milk and rubbing alcohol, but it was all too late, at this point, it had turned into a slight chemical burn. This lasted an entire day, everytime I would put any pressure on my thumbs or get them wet they would burn. Luckily it went away and healed overnight, but the pain of that day is a huge reminder to me that I must wear gloves when chopping hot peppers!!!! Learn from my mistake.

Have a great day,

Tiff

Miscellaneous Monday...

We hit the road at 6:45 this morning for a day trip up to Camden, it was actually a test for hubby and me and I won't bore you with the details, but we have made our decision. Anyway, I wasn't much into picture taking today, so I don't have any of Camden, but you can check out July/07 of my old blog for lots of pictures of the town.

On the way up, you have to drive through Wiscasset, and for any of you Food Network fans, you will recognize this place, Red's Eats. I can't tell you if it is worthy of the fame because we have never eaten there, but it sure had a line!

One of the places I can recommend is... Morse's Sauerkraut. A great little German import store and restaurant( I use the term restaurant liberally, as it is actually only 5 or so tall back wood booths, but the small menu is excellent(recommend the warm German potato salad and Reuban sandwich).

It's a very unassuming place out in the middle of nowhere in Waldoboro. It's one of those hidden gems that I would normally drive by without a thought, but thank goodness we were told of the place. We stop for garlic pickles and Happy Hippos!!! Did you know that Kinder Eggs are now illegal in the US?? Crazy!
Some views around the place...
Notice the weather vane?
Here's a closer look. All I could think of is that this cow is pointing to Heaven. Chocolate, homemade garlic pickles, and German potato salad, guess that is close to Heaven on Earth :)
The drive home was filled with lots of summer tourists and the traffic was intense. We stopped at one little junk shop, but I didn't buy anything because the prices were insanely high. I then wanted to stop at the Salvation Army in Brunswick, hubby was obliging, but unfortunately as were turning in, a big ole RV blocked ours and the oncoming cars view of each other and the little car hit my van. No damage to my van, other than my front license plate got torn off because their head light hit it. No one was hurt, thank the Lord. The police didn't even file a report because the damage was minimal, but after that I had no desire to go into SA. Maybe it was a sign to stop junking!!!

We are all home now, safe and sound and a little more wise from the journey.

Have a safe day!

Tiff

Sunday Stills...

Garden Tally board...

A friend found in the garden, we are watching his metamorphosis...
Enjoy your day,

Tiff

Summer Fun...

What do you do when it's 95 degrees outside, the kids are sick of being stuck in the house, and all the stores are sold out of slip n slides? Make your own of course!!! Two shower curtains + duct tape + water = an afternoon of summer fun :)

Have a fun day,

Tiff

Friday Fun, Daughter's Room....

For my first Friday Fun I thought I would share my youngest daughter's room, you can't get much more fun with decorating than this(at least in my house). When you walk up the stairs and turn the corner, this is what you see as you look in her doorway, a huge contrast from the rest of the house! But that's OK, you are only a child once and I like my kids to have rooms that reflect them.

The color scheme was taken from the floor(a floating laminate that we let her pick out after the laundry room flood ruined her carpet). The wall dots are just those wall stickers, bedding from Target, aqua curtains from Lowes(I think), sheer dot curtains from walmart or target(I can't remember).



This was my dresser that I picked out for my 11th birthday from an antique store out in California(liked old things even way back then!). She really needs a larger dresser and one that fits in better with the decor, but this is it for right now.
Here is that $15 vanity from yardsaling with my mom(it was white).
This was a $12 sewing cabinet from goodwill, I love how the paint brought out the sweet lines of it(I may steal this from her for my sewing room!!). Oh, and the purple thing below it is her duct tape dress form that we made, we still need to find a stand for it.
Fluffy area rugs(from target). Ugh, I see in this photo that my quick fix bedskirt(aka, old chenille bedspread) doesn't look that great, guess I will have to fix that.
Ignore the floating hearts, I was trying to picnik and I forgot I left them there!
Have a wonderful weekend!!!,

Tiff

Why do we collect...

I know if you are reading this blog and have a blog of your own, you are a collector, and I'm 99% sure of that :) It may be a small collection or a large one, it may be a practical one that you use everyday or a totally frivolous one, it could be one collection or many, many collections.... so why do we collect things? I'm sure there are as many answers as there are blogs out there. For me, my collections grew for many reasons. And some even disappeared for reasons. I guess the first and foremost reason for most of my collections is "emotional", the feel, the look, the essence... it all brings up an emotional feeling in me. For example, I love crocks, the look of them, the colors, the history, they radiate a sense of warmth(not physical) but something that can't be touched. They provided years of service to the homemaker or shopkeeper, they were often used and abused, tossed away when cracked, or pushed to the back of the pantry and forgotten. I doubt those people would realize years later that there everyday things would become cherished and sought after treasures in the future.

I have long collected pickling crocks of all sizes, but it has only been the last year or two that bean pots have caught my eye. I do love with great affection a good sweet and tangy baked bean, but have never once cooked a batch in a bean pot, not that I'm lacking for any :) Here is my collection(lacking some small one that wouldn't fit) on my fireplace mantle... each one is different.

And I'm just adding this picture to share with you the dry sink my mom brought up for me last month. I asked her for this piece, not expecting to get is so soon, because it's one of the few pieces that she still had that I remembered from my childhood. My mom and dad are collectors, but tend to buy and sell a lot, so unless it is a family piece, things get swapped out a lot. Anyway, I just love this piece and how it has a tall back with mirror(not usual for dry sinks). And, guess what, this is now my 4th dry sink, talk about an odd collection! :)
Have a lovely day and try to stay cool,

Tiff

Working on Wednesday...

I got up early today(much earlier than my normal summer time day) because I couldn't sleep and it actually has been a good thing. I already weeded the tomato bed, cut half a row of kale(washed and tied it for my kids to sell in the driveway, the rest will be turned into kale chips), emptied the above ground pool that turned green(yuck), cleaned out the bunny house, did two loads of laundry, and washed off the back deck :)

I'm slowly working on the redwork quilt, the birds are time consuming!

Need some kale?
I have to run to the store to get the ingredients I need to make zucchini relish. There is nothing like zucchini plants to give you the confidence to garden, these guys are so easy to grow and so prolific with their fruit. This is just two days pickings....
And another thing on the list today is blanching and freezing some beans. This was yesterday's picking. Again, such an easy thing to grow.
So what are you working on today or this week? Anything fun?

Have a productive day,

Tiff

Tuesday's Treasures....Anyone Know Quilts?

I haven't intentionally been yardsaling since my parents left last month but this past Saturday, I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I had pulled over so that I could use my gps to get myself home(I was on a craigslist run a few towns over) and I saw a yardsale on the side street. I didn't have any cash so I just said to myself "forget it". Until I saw the quilts hanging on the fence! I got out and ran over and this is what I brought home (after I went to the ATM)....

In a box of doilies I found this beautiful infant gown. I have never seen one like it. It's very thin, almost like it should be worn as an underdress, but then why the detail and the crochet?($1)

The Crocheted insert has the initials PET all the way around it.
Then there was this gorgeous table runner of crochet and linen....($1)
And ALL these!! All hand done and beautiful.($1 a piece)
Three curtain valances with pink ric rac trim that will be going in the camper.($1 for the 3)
Two milk glass lamps with vintage shades($7 for the pair) and a gold mirror(which I already painted white($1)), these are for the camper too. I'm going to replace the cream pom poms with either pink or blue ones.
These things... isn't that wood pull toy neat!? each of these was $1 a piece
And my daughter just bought fainted when she saw "Becky" laying on the blanket on the ground. I have My Friends Mandy and Jenny from when I was little and since she found out they had a friend named Becky, she has been wanting her. We bid once on ebay for one but it went for over $35! This one came with everything and looked like it was never played with!!(she was $1)
Another basket for my collection... ($1)
And now for my favorites... I did have to pay $15 a piece for these. The first one is a log cabin quilt which looks like it is from the 1930's to me because of the fabric, tons of adorable feedsack prints...


What do you think? Am I right with the 30's? I can't see anyone using that purple print on the right after WW2.
The condition has some issues and I plan on fixing the tears, but I don't mind, I just love it!!

The back is this print...
And here is the 2nd quilt, a dresden plate design. This one I am finding it harder to date because the fabrics look like civil war prints(at least what I have seen of the rerpo fabrics) but the design was more popular in the 20's and 30's. The picture is washing out the color a bit...



Here is the back... and yes, this one too has condition problems, but that's OK, it is so lovely. Oh, and this quilt is very heavy, much more so than the other.
I'm pretty sure the woman of the house had passed away and her daughters were cleaning out the house. There were several other quilts, but these two caught my eye. There were also large hooked floor rugs and handmade braided rugs, but I passed those by, as I just don't have the time to clean them and repair them. And the furniture! If I owned an antique store, I would have scored, but I was good and didn't bring any home, I just don't have the room for it.

So there you have my one yardsale on Saturday find :) Awesome huh? And I know I probably did a horrible no no in the quilt world, but I machine washed on delicate(front load) the quilts and dried them in the dryer. I just couldn't handle the thought of them in my house and not be clean. They actually came out quite well and don't have any more damage than they already had.

Have a fantastic day,

Tiff